Diet and bone health
A Vegan Society briefing paper
Stephen Walsh
January 2002
Overview
Calcium is essential to life. The body acts to keep calcium levels in the blood within a very narrow range
by regulating absorption of calcium from the gut and from bone, and to a lesser extent by regulating
losses of calcium in urine. Unfortunately, these regulating mechanisms do not adequately preserve bone
in older people in developed countries. Measures to promote bone health are important throughout life to
assist in building bone and to reduce later losses of bone.
In all developed countries with ageing populations, thinning of bones due to loss of calcium is a major
public health issue. As bones thin, risk of fracture increases. Hip fracture is a particularly devastating
injury, with many people dying within a year of suffering such a fracture. Osteoporosis and vertebral
fractures give rise to the familiar loss of height with age and to the painfully familiar bent over stance of
many elderly people.
Preventing such fractures is one of the most important public health issues for the 21st century, as
populations across the world grow older and more prosperous. There are three main approaches to
tackling this problem: drugs, diet and lifestyle. This paper will consider diet and, to a lesser extent,
physical activity and sun exposure.
Dietary recommendations have focussed almost exclusively on increasing calcium intake. Increasing
calcium intake is not wrong in itself but, in relation to bone health, its undue pre-eminence over reducing
sodium intake, increasing vitamin K and potassium intakes, moderating protein intake, increasing
physical activity and adequate sun exposure is a serious error in public policy.
There are five components to promoting bone health through diet:





providing the ingredients of bone (protein, phosphorus and calcium);
reducing calcium losses from the body;
making absorption of calcium from the gut easy;
making absorption of calcium from bone difficult;
promoting bone strength independently of bone mass.
Providing the ingredients of bone (protein, phosphorus and calcium)
About 1.0 g of protein per kg of body weight per day is widely accepted as an adequate intake for most
people over the age of 10, though athletes may require about 1.5 g per kg per day.
About 1.25 g of phosphorus per day is also widely accepted as an adequate intake for most people. Most
people in developed countries get adequate protein and phosphate, though some elderly individuals do
not. Elderly people may need to emphasise foods rich in these nutrients as their calorie consumption
declines.
Calcium intakes of 800-1500 mg per day are considered adequate by various expert bodies. However,
calcium requirements cannot be considered separately from other dietary components, particularly those
determining calcium losses.
Reducing calcium losses from the body
Calcium is lost from the body in urine, gut secretions and sweat. The key to avoiding bone loss is to
ensure that calcium absorbed from food in the gut balances the losses. Otherwise, the body will take
calcium from bone to maintain the required level of calcium in the blood. The body contains about 1 kg
of calcium in the bones. If calcium losses exceed absorption from the gut by just 30 mg per day, 1% of
the calcium in the bones will be lost each year.
In people following typical North American and European diets, calcium loss is driven with
approximately equal importance by four dietary components: high sodium, high protein, low potassium
and low bicarbonate intakes.

Increasing sodium intake from 1000 to 4000 mg per day causes an additional 52 mg of
calcium loss per day.

Increasing protein intake from 40 to 100 g per day increases losses by 66 mg per day.

Decreasing potassium intake from 8000 to 2000 mg per day increases losses by 31 mg per
day.

Decreasing bicarbonate intake from 100 to 20 mmol per day increases losses by 32 mg per
day.
These entirely plausible changes in daily intake of the four key components can therefore cause calcium
losses from the body to increase from about 60 mg per day to about 240 mg per day. Fractional calcium
absorption (the fraction of dietary calcium absorbed from the gut) decreases as calcium intake increases,
so each successive increase in calcium intake has less effect. For a typical 55 year old woman, the
required calcium intake to meet 60 mg per day of losses would be just 200 mg per day, while the required
intake to meet losses of 240 mg per day would be 2300 mg per day. Appendix 1 explains the calculation
of these figures.
In children, adolescents and younger adults, calcium absorption is more efficient and adapts better to
increased losses. In these groups the beneficial effect of increasing calcium intake on calcium balance is
stronger, due to better average absorption, and the adverse effect of increased losses is less, due to better
adaptation of absorption to increased losses. Older men and older women show a decline in absorption
(Institute of Medicine, 1997; Agnusdei, 1998; Barger-Lux, 1995), with average fractional calcium
absorption being about 30-40% lower at eighty than at thirty. In this briefing paper the analysis will focus
on adults with an average age of about 55. Any diet adequate to support bone health in older adults will
be adequate for younger people, but in the very old reducing calcium losses will be even more important
than this analysis indicates, as calcium absorption will be lower.
Calcium requirements to balance a given calcium loss will also be higher for those with relatively low
calcium absorption for their age. Such individuals are at particularly high risk of osteoporosis (Need,
1998; Ensrud, 2000). About one in ten postmenopausal women show absorption more than 40% below
the average (Heaney, 1986) and are therefore at particularly high risk of bone loss. As already noted, the
fraction of calcium absorbed also declines as overall calcium intake increases. A useful way of examining
foods is to evaluate their net impact on calcium balance (calcium absorbed from the gut minus calcium
losses) at a given level of calcium intake. To fully appreciate the impact of a food on high risk individuals
its effect should be evaluated with calcium absorption 40% below typical levels.
Table 1 shows the effect of some representative foods on calcium balance, in mg of calcium per 100 g of
food, at calcium intakes between 500 and 1000 mg per day and between 1000 and 1500 mg per day, both
for typical calcium absorption and for 40% reduced absorption (high risk).
Chicken (average)
Fish (average)
Eggs
Cottage cheese
Feta cheese
Cheddar cheese
Cow's milk
Wheat grain (dry)
Brown rice (dry)
Chickpeas (dry)
Soybeans (dry)
Almonds
Peanuts
Potatoes
Peppers
Oranges
Bananas
Kale
Spring greens
Normal absorption
40% reduced absorption
500-1000 mg 1000-1500mg 500-1000 mg 1000-1500 mg
calcium intake calcium intake (high risk)
(high risk)
-27.3
-27.6
-27.8
-28.0
-23.6
-24.3
-24.9
-25.3
-18.2
-19.5
-20.7
-21.5
-15.6
-16.8
-18.0
-18.7
12.5
2.4
-6.9
-12.9
18.6
7.0
-3.7
-10.7
8.5
6.1
3.8
2.3
-11.6
-12.2
-12.8
-13.2
-7.1
-7.6
-8.0
-8.3
-6.1
-6.4
-6.7
-6.9
6.6
2.4
-1.6
-4.1
14.8
9.7
5.0
1.9
-6.6
-8.0
-9.3
-10.1
1.8
1.6
1.3
1.2
2.6
2.4
2.2
2.1
5.6
4.8
4.0
3.5
4.6
4.5
4.4
4.3
17.6
14.5
11.7
9.9
20.7
16.4
12.4
9.8
Table 1: Effect of representative foods on calcium balance
Foods can be categorised based on whether they are high or low in calcium and whether they increase or
decrease calcium losses. The ideal foods for bone health are foods that are high in calcium and reduce
calcium losses. Adding these foods to the diet will benefit everyone, including those requiring high
calcium intakes and having low absorption. Green leafy vegetables such as kale and spring greens are the
best example of such foods. In contrast, all dairy foods increase losses of calcium as well as providing
calcium, so their effectiveness declines dramatically with increased calcium intakes and with decreased
absorption. Foods such as meat, fish and eggs, which are low in calcium but cause high losses, reduce
everyone’s calcium balance uniformly, while low calcium foods which reduce losses, such as peppers,
bananas and oranges, provide everyone with a modest boost.
For an individual trying to improve calcium balance, fruit and vegetables are the best foods to add, as
they are rich in potassium and bicarbonate which reduce calcium losses. Adding 100 g of each of the five
vegetables and fruits at the bottom of Table 1 would add 400 mg of calcium to the diet and 30 to 35 mg to
the calcium balance of a high risk person with low absorption, or 40 to 50 mg for a person with typical
absorption. In contrast, a pint of cow’s milk would add about 700 mg of calcium to the diet, but would
improve calcium balance by only 13 to 22 mg and 35 to 50 mg respectively. 100 g of cheddar cheese
would also add 700 mg of calcium to the diet, but would actually take away 11 to 4 mg of calcium from
the high risk person while adding only 7 to 19 mg to calcium balance for the person with average risk. In
all cases, the benefit is less at higher calcium intakes. More calcium is a good thing, but the package it
comes in is critical, particularly for individuals at high risk.
Although increased protein intake increases calcium losses, an adequate protein intake is essential to
provide the ingredients for muscle and bone, without which the body will degenerate. Consuming less
than the recommended amount of protein in order to reduce calcium loss is therefore a false economy.
However, the choice of protein source can make a great deal of difference. A person trying to increase
protein intake using chicken or fish will lose 25 mg of calcium from their body for every 100 g eaten. In
contrast, a 100 g portion of beans (by dry weight) has an approximately neutral effect on calcium balance
while providing the same amount of protein.
Reducing salt intake by 5 g per day will eliminate 2000 mg of sodium, reducing calcium losses by about
35 mg per day.
Reducing sodium intake; increasing potassium and bicarbonate intake from fruit and vegetables; meeting
protein needs from legumes rather than meat, fish or egg; and getting calcium from green leafy
vegetables rather than dairy products can reduce the losses of calcium from the body substantially. As
already noted, if calcium losses exceed calcium absorption by just 30 mg per day about 1% of bone
calcium will be lost each year. Reducing calcium losses while consuming ample calcium (about 1000 mg
per day) provides a robust foundation for bone health by making it easier for the body to replenish its
losses from the diet.
Making absorption of calcium from the gut easy
Faced with a given calcium loss, the body will try to maintain calcium levels in the blood by taking
calcium from the gut or from bone. If calcium is readily available from food in the gut, the body is less
likely to remove it from bone, so bone loss will be less.
The body maintains blood levels of calcium primarily by adjusting parathyroid hormone (PTH).
Increased PTH increases the production of calcitriol from calcidiol (stored vitamin D) as well as directly
stimulating removal of calcium from bone. Calcitriol stimulates absorption of calcium both from the gut
and from bone. Calcidiol has similar effects to calcitriol, though these effects are weaker at normal
concentrations.
If calcium intake is sufficient to meet calcium losses with a low fractional calcium absorption and
vitamin D is adequate, the body will show low PTH, moderate to high calcidiol and low calcitriol. This
combination favours calcium being taken from the gut rather than from bone and indicates ideal calcium
metabolism.
If vitamin D is adequate but calcium intake is not ample, the body will show moderate PTH, moderate to
high calcidiol and high calcitriol. This is undesirable as calcium is likely to be absorbed from bone as
well as from the gut and bone loss may be significant.
If vitamin D is inadequate, the body will show high PTH, low calcidiol and low calcitriol. In this case,
calcium will be lost from bone. Severely inadequate vitamin D levels manifest as rickets in children and
as osteomalacia in adults.
Severe magnesium deficiency impairs calcium absorption from the gut (Sojka, 1995). Magnesium is
abundant in unrefined plant foods, including whole grains.
Caffeine reduces absorption of calcium from the gut. One cup of caffeine-containing coffee per day
reduces calcium balance by about 4 mg (Barger-Lux, 1995b). This is a very significant reduction in older
adults, leading to about 0.1% loss of bone per year if not compensated for by some other means.
Optimal bone health requires adequate stored vitamin D (calcidiol) and magnesium combined with
sufficient calcium intake to allow calcium losses to be met from the gut even with a low fractional
absorption.
Making absorption of calcium from bone difficult
The other side of ensuring that calcium comes from the gut and not from bone is making bone resistant to
calcium loss. When the body demands more calcium to balance losses, by raising PTH and calcitriol,
both the gut and the bone will respond. Making it easy to absorb calcium from the gut helps to protect
bone. Helping bone to resist demands for more calcium is just as important.
Bone is built by osteoblast cells and demolished by osteoclast cells in an ongoing cycle of renewal and
repair. Strengthening osteoblast activity relative to osteoclast activity makes bone more resistant to
demands for release of calcium to the blood. Increased resistance means that more of the calcium losses
will be met by absorption from the gut and less by absorption from bone.
During childhood and adolescence, growth hormones strongly stimulate osteoblast activity, promoting a
positive calcium balance. Growth hormones decline with age. Particularly severe declines in bone growth
hormones occur if dietary protein, phosphate or zinc become inadequate. Oestrogen levels also decline
with age in both men and women, with a particularly dramatic drop in women at menopause. Oestrogen
promotes a positive calcium balance in many ways, including making bone more resistant to releasing
calcium in response to increased PTH, reducing urinary calcium loss and possibly increasing calcium
absorption (Nordin, 1999; Riggs, 1998). These age-related changes shift the balance in favour of
osteoclast activity with age, making bone loss in response to calcium losses more likely.
A key component of bone is osteocalcin, a protein produced by osteoblasts. Osteocalcin must be
carboxylated to bind most effectively with calcium. Elevated undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC)
strongly predicts fracture risk and is associated with both decreased bone density and weaker bones at a
given density (Weber, 2001). Elevated ucOC can be readily corrected by increased vitamin K intake.
Vitamin K is found in large quantities in green leafy vegetables and broccoli and in the fermented soy
product, natto. Absorption of vitamin K from green leafy vegetables is enhanced by the presence of fat,
e.g. from a salad dressing, cooking oil or other accompanying food. Booth (2000) found high vitamin K
intake (250 micrograms per day) to be associated with a 65% reduction in fracture risk. 250 micrograms
of vitamin K can be obtained from 100 g of broccoli or green cabbage, 200 g of lettuce or just 40 g of
kale (Shearer, 1996). The beneficial effect of vitamin K is particularly notable in postmenopausal women
who are not receiving oestrogen treatment, suggesting that it counters some of the adverse effects of
declining oestrogen levels (Feskanich, 1999). In those postmenopausal women showing particularly high
calcium losses a 1000 microgram vitamin K supplement resulted in a marked reduction in urinary
calcium losses (Knapen, 1989). A 1000 microgram supplement is equivalent to about 150 g of kale.
Vitamin K may also be important, together with ample calcium intake, in ensuring a beneficial impact of
increased levels of vitamin D (Feskanich, 1999).
Blood pH is also a significant factor in osteoblast and osteoclast activity. As pH drops, the balance is
shifted in favour of osteoclasts and bone density declines (Bushinsky, 2000; Giannini, 1998). Blood pH
decreases with age, as kidney efficiency declines, and is sensitive to the balance between acid and
bicarbonate from the diet (Sebastian, 1994; Frassetto, 1996).
Consuming alkaline foods (typically high in potassium relative to protein) increases blood pH, thereby
shifting the balance in favour of the osteoblasts. However, low protein diets have the opposite effect as
they cause a decline in growth hormones. It is therefore very important to maintain adequate protein
intakes while using plenty of alkaline foods such as fruits and vegetables to balance the acid from the
protein. Vegetable sources of protein (other than grains and some nuts) are usually alkaline, while animal
sources of protein are usually acid. Milk is approximately neutral, but cheese is even more acid than meat
or fish.
Table 2 shows the contribution of different types of food to net alkali. For the detail of the calculation of
net alkali see Appendix 1. Acid foods show a negative value for net alkali.
net alkali (mmol)
Chicken (average)
fish (average)
Eggs
cottage cheese
feta cheese
Cheddar cheese
cow's milk
wheat grain (dry)
brown rice (dry)
chickpeas (dry)
soybeans (dry)
Almonds
Peanuts
potatoes
Peppers
Oranges
bananas
Kale
spring greens
-11.1
-8.7
-10.8
-8.1
-13.3
-21.6
-0.3
-8.3
-10.3
0.0
12.2
2.5
-1.1
5.3
3.6
3.8
6.9
9.1
4.1
Table 2: The effect of representative foods on net alkali
Retinol consumption probably has an adverse effect in older adults by stimulating release of calcium
from bone and also by interfering with absorption of calcium from the gut (Binkley, 2000; Johansson,
2001). Major studies in both Scandinavia and the USA have linked retinol intakes above 1500
micrograms per day with an almost doubled risk of hip fracture compared with retinol intakes below 500
micrograms per day (Melhus, 1998, Feskanich, 2002). Both studies found that plant carotenes, from
which the body can make its own vitamin A as required, were not associated with increased risk. Retinol
is found in animal products, particularly liver and cod liver oil. It is also found in some fortified foods,
including most milk sold in Sweden and the USA, and many multivitamin supplements. Plant carotenes
are abundant in carrots, dark green leafy vegetables and red peppers.
Vitamin C promotes the formation of osteoblast-derived proteins required in bone.
Omega-3 fatty acids may have a positive effect in shifting the balance in favour of osteoblasts (Kruger,
1998; Requirand, 2000; Watkins, 2001).
Physical activity has a huge impact in promoting osteoblast activity, thus encouraging the body to take
the necessary calcium from the gut rather than the bones. For a given dietary intake, greater physical
activity such as walking, running, racket sports and weight training will promote the development and
retention of bone (Uusi-Rasi, 1998; Wolff, 1999). In the face of high physical activity, the body will
follow the path of least resistance and take extra calcium from the gut rather than from bone.
The optimal combination is a diet requiring a relatively low fractional absorption of calcium to balance
losses and a combination of physical activity and dietary factors promoting osteoblast activity so as to
make the bones resistant to the body’s demands for calcium.
Promoting bone strength independently of bone mass
Bone mass is not the end of the story. A large, dense bone is usually a strong bone, but is not necessarily
so. As discussed above, increased vitamin K intake is associated with reduced fracture risk independent
of bone density. Magnesium in bone promotes a fine crystalline structure and greater bone strength, so
ample magnesium intake may enhance bone strength (Sojka, 1995).
Recommendations
Eat plenty of low oxalate high calcium green leafy vegetables
Dairy products are not the ideal food for bone health. 100 g of a low oxalate high calcium green leafy
vegetable such as kale, turnip greens or spring greens (young cabbage without a heart) will have at least
as much beneficial effect on calcium balance as 200 g of milk or 100 g of cheddar cheese. Using the
green stuff instead of the white stuff avoids the adverse effects of dairy fat on cardiovascular health. Dark
green leafy vegetables will also protect and strengthen bone by raising blood pH and providing vitamin K
and vitamin C. They are a good source of plant carotenes which meet the body’s needs for vitamin A
safely and naturally. Green leafy vegetables are also high in folate, which is very beneficial to general
health. It is hard to imagine a food more supportive of bone health than kale or spring greens.
Some vegetables such as spinach, beet greens, purslane, amaranth and rhubarb are high in oxalate, which
hinders absorption of their calcium. Use of these foods is not harmful to bone, but their effective calcium
content is only about 20% of the measured content.
Reduce sodium intake
If you use salt, substitute one of the widely available low sodium alternatives containing at least twice as
much potassium as sodium by weight. Anyone relying on iodised salt as a source of iodine should take a
150 microgram iodine supplement three times a week if the low sodium substitute does not provide
iodine.
Use low sodium bread or consume bread moderately, as bread is a major source of sodium. Some low
sodium breads are also fortified with calcium.
Use herbs and spices instead of salt and salty pickles. There are often similar products in terms of taste
with very different salt levels.
Get at least 600 mg of calcium per day from calcium rich foods or supplements
Kale and spring greens provide about 150 mg of calcium per 100 g raw weight.
Almonds, carob and molasses each provide about 250 mg of calcium per 100 g. While these foods are too
concentrated to consume in large amounts, they can make a useful contribution. These sources of plant
calcium also provide alkali to boost blood pH. In contrast, milk is neutral and cheese is acid.
Tofu is high in calcium only if calcium has been used in preparing it. Some tofu is highly salted. Tofu can
therefore vary from substantially increasing calcium balance to substantially decreasing it. The calcium
content of tahini is also very variable, ranging from 140 to 960 mg per 100 g. The amounts of calcium
and sodium in these foods should be checked on the labels and not taken for granted. There should be at
least as much calcium as sodium for a beneficial effect on calcium balance.
Calcium-fortified foods or calcium supplements provide another source of calcium. Calcium supplements
are at least as natural as dairy products or soy products as humans have consumed calcium carbonate,
introduced via stone grinding of grain, for about 10,000 years. If phosphate intakes are low (unusual for
vegans), calcium phosphate may be preferable to calcium carbonate or calcium citrate. Calcium carbonate
should always be consumed with meals. If stomach acid is low something other than carbonate should be
used.
600 mg of calcium per day from calcium rich foods, plus calcium from other foods, should give an
adequate calcium intake.
Get an adequate protein intake
This is mainly an issue for elderly people and others with a relatively low calorie intake (less than 30 kcal
per kg of body weight), but can be of critical importance. If protein intake is inadequate, the body lacks
the building blocks for muscle and bone, and growth hormones which stimulate muscle and bone
building will decline to undesirable levels. A cup (250 ml) of soya milk a day provides about 8g of
protein and can make a significant contribution to maintaining an adequate protein intake. Most dry beans
contain about 25 g of protein per 100 g. Wheat is higher in protein than rice and potatoes, and using nuts
and seeds rather than oils and fats will boost protein intake. Nuts which are high in monounsaturated fat,
such as almonds, hazelnuts (filberts) and cashews, are ideal as they will also promote cardiovascular
health. Almonds are the most beneficial for bone health as they have the most positive effect on calcium
balance.
Maintain an adequate store of vitamin D
Get frequent short exposures of skin to sun whenever the sun is at least 30 degrees above the horizon. At
latitudes above about 50 degrees North, this is not practical from November to March, and vitamin D
stores will decay substantially during this “vitamin D winter”. Within 30 degrees of the equator there is
no vitamin D winter. A fifteen minute exposure to sun is ample to boost vitamin D while avoiding
damaging sunburn.
For the part of the year when such sun exposure is not possible, do one of the following:

take a mid-winter holiday somewhere sunny and expose skin to sun frequently;

use a sunlamp with at least 3% of its energy between 290 nanometres and 315 nanometres
once a week, being careful to avoid overexposure;

take 10 micrograms of vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) per day.
Make unrefined plant foods your main source of protein
Legume and dairy proteins have a lower sulphur amino acid content (the active component in causing
calcium loss) per gram of protein than meat, fish, egg or grain proteins, and therefore cause less calcium
loss for a given protein intake. Meat, fish and eggs have a pronounced negative effect on calcium
balance. Grains have a moderately negative effect. Some highly processed plant protein sources, such as
certain soy protein isolates, have an adverse effect on calcium balance due to loss of beneficial minerals
and addition of sodium during processing. Highly salted nuts also have an adverse effect. Of the animal
protein sources, only milk and yoghurt can be expected to have a consistently positive effect on calcium
balance. Most plant protein sources (fruits, vegetables, legumes and many nuts and seeds) come in a
nutritional package which has a positive or neutral effect on calcium balance.
Unrefined plant foods are also excellent sources of magnesium.
Eat plenty of vegetables and fruit
Vegetables and fruit promote bone health by improving calcium balance, providing plentiful vitamin C,
and raising blood pH. Several recent studies have shown that increased fruit and vegetable intake is
associated with increased bone mineral density and decreased loss of bone (Tucker, 1999; New, 2000).
Include omega-3 fatty acids in your diet
These probably promote osteoblast (bone-building) activity. The simplest way for vegans to top up
omega-3s is to consume 1-2 teaspoons of flaxseed oil per day.
Limit caffeine consumption
Caffeine has been shown to reduce calcium absorption. Low caffeine teas, such as Redbush (Rooibosch),
provide a tasty and healthful alternative.
Get your vitamin A from plant carotenes, not from retinol
This allows the body to regulate production of vitamin A and avoids the probable ill effects of retinol on
bone. Note that cow’s milk is fortified with retinol in Sweden, the USA and some other countries. Some
vegan supplements contain retinol or related compounds – ingredients beginning with “retin” should be
avoided. Good sources of plant carotenes include carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato, dark green leafy
vegetables, such as kale, spring greens and spinach, and red peppers. 100 grams per day of any
combination of these will meet vitamin A requirements safely and naturally.
Finally, don’t forget physical activity: just as exercise helps to build and maintain muscle, it also
helps to build and maintain bone
Recommendations on any health issue need to be consistent with overall health.
Increased potassium and calcium intakes and reduced sodium intake strongly promote lower blood
pressure and reduced risk of stroke and kidney disease.
Increased calcium or vitamin D appears to reduce risk of colorectal cancer and may also reduce risk of
breast cancer. Increased vitamin D may also reduce the risk of prostate cancer and auto-immune diseases.
However, there is a consistent association between increased milk consumption and increased risk of
prostate cancer. Giovannucci (1998) suggested that this association may reflect, at least in part, an
adverse effect of calcium. The main evidence for this suggestion was that high use of calcium from
supplements (more than 900 mg per day) was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer even at
moderate intakes of dietary calcium. Use of calcium supplements providing 1-900 mg per day, with
dietary calcium intakes below 1000 mg per day, was associated with a very modest decrease in risk
which may have been due to chance. Looking at combined dietary and supplementary calcium, a
significant increase in risk (200% greater than for low calcium intakes) was observed only for total
calcium intakes above 2000 mg per day. As discussed in Appendix 2, calcium intakes above 2000 mg
may have adverse effects even from the point of view of bone health. The recommendations in this paper
aim for a calcium intake of about 1000 mg, so the results of Giovannucci give no cause for concern.
The Vegan Society briefing paper on Milk and Breast Cancer, produced in November 2001, provides
further information on milk and cancer ( www.vegansociety.com/briefings/milkbreastcancer.htm ).
Increased consumption of foods rich in plant carotenes is associated with reduced risk of cancer.
Increased consumption of omega-3 fatty acids, particularly from plant sources, is strongly associated with
reduced risk of heart disease. Omega-3 fatty acids may also reduce risk of depression and schizophrenia.
Increased consumption of unrefined plant foods, particularly fruit and vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole
grains, is associated with wide-ranging health benefits and can be expected to promote a longer and
healthier life.
Two serious errors in public policy on bone health
Having set out the basis of bone health, it is appropriate to reflect on public policy.
The first serious error in public policy is the undeserved pre-eminence accorded to calcium in relation to
bone health. Calcium is a very good thing, but increasing calcium intake from 500 mg per day to 1500
mg per day will add less than 90 mg per day to the calcium balance of most older adults, and less than 50
mg per day to the calcium balance of many such adults. 10 g of salt per day will take about 70 mg per day
away from calcium balance. 4000 mg of extra potassium from a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and other
unrefined plant foods will add 60 mg per day to calcium balance. At the same time, the alkali from such
foods will help bone keep its calcium where it belongs. Vitamin K from green leafy vegetables and
broccoli will do the same and promote stronger bones at the same time.
The second serious error is equating calcium with dairy products. Dairy products are not the best source
of calcium as they promote calcium losses at the same time as increasing calcium intake. This is
particularly true of cheese, which will degrade the calcium balance of individuals most at risk of
osteoporosis: the very old and people with relatively poor absorption of calcium. In terms of bone health,
dairy products fortified with retinol are a poisoned offering.
Heaney (2000d) provides a particularly clear illustration of the current tendency to equate calcium with
dairy:
In general, antidairy groups are forced logically to take an anticalcium stance (not just an
antidairy stance). Since in the diets of the industrialized nations 65-80% of calcium intake
comes from dairy products to be against dairy forces one to be against calcium.
Yet in the same article Heaney states:
It is now fairly generally accepted that the diets of evolving hominids exhibited high
calcium densities. Both nonhuman primates today and contemporary hunter-gatherer
peoples regularly consume diets with calcium densities above 2 mmol/100 kcal [2000 mg
per day]. Much of this calcium would have come from vegetable sources…
In fact, the most authoritative source (Eaton, 1991) states that about 90% of that high calcium intake
came from plants. A high intake of vegetables, fruits, roots and flowers also provided abundant
potassium, alkali, magnesium, vitamin K and vitamin C, all in quantities far above modern norms. Salt
was notably absent.
Nutritional science is in its infancy with regard to the interactions between these nutrients, but it is clear
that all of them, not just calcium, contribute to bone health and other aspects of health. While many
modern cultivated foods are sadly much less rich in calcium than the wild plants with which we evolved,
green leafy vegetables are an exception and therefore of particular importance for modern humans.
Human use of dairy products is a recent and unnecessary development. A diet rich in vegetables, fruits
and root crops provides the best path back to healthy bones.
Appendices
The appendices to this paper provide important supporting material.
Appendix 1 sets out the model used for evaluating calcium balance. This is a novel synthesis of research
results over the past twenty years. This appendix underpins the conclusions of the paper.
Appendix 2 reviews the evidence from long term supplementation trials with calcium or vitamin D and
concludes that the evidence for a beneficial effect on bone health from increased calcium intakes, not
exceeding 2000 mg per day, is very strong. This review provides additional support for the
recommendations to include at least 600 mg per day of calcium from calcium-rich foods or supplements
and to ensure an adequate store of vitamin D.
Appendix 3 reviews the results of prospective epidemiological studies on dietary calcium and bone
health, with particular emphasis on Feskanich (1997, 1998) as these studies have been the subject of
recent controversy. This review concludes that findings of increased fracture risk with increased dietary
(dairy) calcium intake in these studies, in contrast to Holbrook (1988), reflects

the high retinol content of low fat milk in the USA;

distortion of the results due to people at high risk of osteoporosis consuming more dairy
products;

increased use of cheese compared with milk.
The review in Appendix 3 also confirms that there is no reliable evidence indicating an adverse effect of
calcium in itself on bone health, at least at intakes below 2000 mg per day. Overall, epidemiological
studies of dairy calcium are consistent with a protective effect in childhood and adolescence which
declines with age and may be reversed in older adults, particularly in relation to cheese and to dairy
products fortified with retinol.
Appendix 4 reviews the controversy over protein. This review concludes that there is real advantage in
using vegetable protein sources (except grains) rather than animal protein sources (except milk and
yoghurt) to ensure an adequate protein intake.
Appendix 1: A model for calcium balance
Many of the elements of calcium balance are well known.
Each extra mmol of sodium in the urine is associated with 0.01 extra mmol of calcium in the urine
(Massey, 1996). About 95% of dietary sodium is excreted in the urine. Short term metabolic loading
studies tend to show a slightly weaker effect, and cross-sectional studies of free-living populations tend to
show a slightly stronger effect. A recent large cross-sectional study (Ho, 2001) found a coefficient of
0.014 rather than 0.01. Overall, a robust approximation is given by
UCa (mmol) = 0.01 * Na (mmol)
1
where UCa is the change in urinary calcium and Na is the change in dietary sodium.
The effect of protein intake on urinary calcium loss is also well established (Barzel, 1998; Heaney, 1998;
Weaver, 1999). The effect is proportional to the sulphur content of cysteine and methionine in the diet
(though not to the sulphur content of taurine, which is often excreted intact) and is equivalent to about 0.1
mmol of urinary calcium loss for each mmol of sulphur (S) consumed in the diet in the form of
methionine or cysteine. That is
UCa (mmol) = 0.1 * S (mmol)
S (mmol)= cysteine (g)* 8.3 + methionine (g) * 6.7
2
3
Heaney (1998) confirms that this effect is seen in cross-sectional studies as well as short term loading
studies, with an observed calcium loss of 0.85 mg per gram of protein. As each gram of protein in a
typical diet contributes about 0.275 mmol of sulphur, the predicted effect of a gram of protein would be
0.0275 mmol (1.1 mg) of calcium. The short term studies appear to capture a persistent effect.
At this point consensus fades. Some authors consider the effect of sulphur to be due to the acid created
when sulphur-containing amino acids are metabolised (2 mmol of acid for each mmol of sulphate). This
is made more plausible by the observation that adding potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3) to the diet causes
a decrease in the excretion of calcium in the urine. However, the extent of the decrease should be 0.05
mmol of calcium per mmol of bicarbonate if both effects are operating through the mechanism of net acid
excretion. Lemann (1993) provides a very pertinent summary of short term metabolic loading tests:
UCa (mmol) = -0.015 * KHCO3 (mmol)
UCa (mmol) = 0.0 * NaHCO3 (mmol)
UCa (mmol) = -0.005 * KCl (mmol)
4
5
6
These three relationships can be combined with the effect of sodium (1) and rearranged to give an
equivalent set of equations in terms of the effects of individual ions:
UCa (mmol) = -0.005 * K (mmol)
UCa (mmol) = 0.0 * Cl (mmol)
UCa (mmol) = 0.01 * Na (mmol)
UCa (mmol) = -0.01 * HCO3 (mmol)
7
8
9
10
It is striking that the effect of bicarbonate is only -0.01 mmol/mmol while the effect implied if the
influence of protein is mediated by acid is -0.05 mmol/mmol. This counts strongly against the claim that
the effect of protein is governed by the associated acid, and indicates that sulphate and bicarbonate effects
need to be modelled separately.
Sebastian (1994) observes an effect of urinary potassium, provided by the addition of potassium
bicarbonate to the diet, on urinary calcium of -0.022 mmol/mmol. This is only slightly greater than that
indicated by equation 4, particularly when we note the absorption of dietary potassium to be about 90%,
giving an expected effect of about -0.017. This observation therefore supports the model above. Sebastian
(1994) also notes that earlier work found a reduction in urinary calcium by potassium citrate but not by
sodium citrate. As citrate is metabolised in the body equivalently to bicarbonate, this observation is also
consistent with the above model.
Breslau (1988) provides data on the effect of varying intakes of cysteine and methionine on urinary
calcium losses. Intakes of most minerals are kept approximately constant between the different test diets,
but there is an 8 mmol per day decrease in potassium between the soy protein and animal protein diets as
well as a 10 mmol per day increase in sulphate from protein. From the model, the sulphate increase
should cause a 40 mg increase in calcium excretion and the potassium decrease should cause a 5 mg
increase in calcium excretion (if associated with bicarbonate). The predicted increase of 45 mg per day in
urinary calcium matches the observed increase of 47 mg per day well.
Ho (2001) estimates the effect of urinary potassium (about 90% of dietary potassium) on urinary calcium
in a free-living population to be
UCa (mmol) = -0.012 * UK (mmol)
11
This substantially exceeds the predicted effect for potassium alone (-0.005), but the effective provision of
bicarbonate from the diet is governed by an ion balance:
HCO3 = 0.9*K-1.8*0.65*P+0.95*(Na-Cl)+2*0.4*Mg+2*FA*Ca
12
This expression is adapted from Remer (1994, 1995) with the substitution of slightly different estimates
for the fractional absorption of potassium (0.9), magnesium (0.4), calcium (see below) and phosphorus
(0.65). All quantities are in mmol. Phosphorus is denoted by P and magnesium by Mg. It should be noted
that the term bicarbonate is used to represent any salt that will act as a source of alkali in the body. The
effect of a food on net alkali in the body can be calculated by subtracting twice the sulphur (equation 3)
from the bicarbonate (equation 12).
In typical modern diets, sodium and chloride are approximately equal and the dominant factor in
providing base is potassium, though its effect is modified (slightly attenuated) by correlations with other
ions in the diet, particularly phosphate. This means that in practice potassium acts as an approximate
proxy for bicarbonate as well as in its own right. The earlier equations for the effect of potassium (7) and
bicarbonate (10) therefore predict that the apparent effect of dietary potassium on urinary calcium will be
close to -0.015 mmol urinary calcium per mmol dietary potassium (the sum of the potassium and
bicarbonate effects), which is consistent with equation 11.
Ho (2001) failed to find an effect of dietary protein, evaluated by a food frequency questionnaire, on
urinary calcium excretion. This is unsurprising, as the estimated protein intake will be much less accurate
than the measures of urinary sodium and potassium. In contrast, Heaney (1998, 2000) used chemically
analysed diets and did find such an effect.
Sodium, potassium, bicarbonate and protein have not been found to affect either gut losses of calcium or
losses of calcium in sweat, so the effect on urinary loss of calcium appears to be the net effect on calcium
losses from the body. This is in contrast to phosphorus which decreases urinary losses while increasing
gut losses, giving no overall effect on calcium loss (Heaney, 1994).
To complete the model, the dependence of calcium absorption on dietary calcium intake needs to be
quantified. The fractional absorption of calcium from a single portion (load) of dairy products is given by
Weaver (1999) as
Calcium Fraction Absorbed = 0.89 - 0.096 * ln(calcium in portion in mg)
13
This predicts a strong decline in absorption with calcium intake, in a given meal, but does not lend itself
to direct application to calculating the expected absorption for a given daily intake of calcium. Heaney
(2000) notes that the average fractional absorption is given by
Calcium Fraction Absorbed = 0.22 * (daily calcium in grams) ^ (-0.44)
14
Assuming daily intake to constitute a single load, equations 13 and 14 are very consistent for calcium
intakes above 500 mg per day. This indicates that the decline in absorption reflects primarily a short term
load effect rather than a longer term adaptation to dietary calcium intake or to calcium losses.
Gonnelli (2001) presents similar relationships, but with slightly lower absorption at moderate intakes and
a more rapid decline in absorption with intake: 0.18* (daily calcium in grams) ^ (-0.6) for men, and
0.155* (daily calcium in grams) ^ (-0.66) for women. Agnusdei (1998) indicates a fractional absorption
of 0.19* (daily calcium in grams)^(-0.54). This paper will use equation 14, but it should be noted that this
choice may somewhat overestimate calcium absorption, particularly at high intakes.
However, as calcium intake increases so do urinary losses of calcium and endogenous faecal losses (loss
of calcium from the gut without reabsorption). This means that the net absorption of calcium is less than
indicated above. Recker (1977) examines the effect of calcium carbonate supplementation on calcium
balance in women with an average age of 57. Calcium balance rises by 72 mg, while calcium absorption
rises by 108 mg, as calcium intake goes from 530 mg to 1480 mg. The expected absorption for the
change in intake is 220 * (1.48 ^0.56 – 0.53^0.56), that is 120 mg. This prediction is a good match to the
observed absorption of 108 mg. However, about a third of the absorbed calcium disappears as increased
losses reduce net absorption by one third compared to gross absorption.
It would be preferable to have data from a number of different calcium supplementation trials to verify
the estimate that one third of absorbed calcium disappears in extra losses, but such data do not seem to be
available. Other sources of evidence do not allow a better model of calcium dependent losses, though
they do indicate that the scale of the losses is at least as a third of absorbed calcium. Correlation studies
of urinary calcium loss and dietary calcium intake suggest that about 6 mg of calcium is lost in the urine
per 100 mg of calcium intake (Heaney, 1999). This observed loss will reflect a combination of the actual
effect of calcium on urinary losses and the effect of associated nutrients in dairy foods, which are
accounted for separately in the model above. This value for calcium-dependent losses may also
overestimate losses at higher calcium intakes, since losses can be expected to decrease as fractional
absorption decreases with increasing calcium intake. Heaney (1994) provides a relationship between
absorption fraction and endogenous faecal losses. Examining this relationship shows that these gut losses
amount to about 10% of absorbed calcium for calcium intakes between 500 mg and 1500 mg. This
indicates that the dominant calcium-dependent loss is the urinary loss. Both Heaney (1986) and Heaney
(1999) indicate that a simple straight line relationship between absorbed calcium and urinary calcium
explains a high proportion of the variation in urinary losses, but neither paper states the slope of the fitted
line. Even if the slope were given, it would be influenced by associated nutrients as well as by calcium
itself. The available data do not justify a more precise model than assuming that calcium-dependent
losses are a constant proportion of the absorbed calcium and estimating this proportion from the results of
Recker (1977) to be one third.
The following equation will therefore be used to define the typical absorbed fraction of calcium, while
the increased losses associated with absorbed calcium will be ignored in calculating the calcium losses.
Net calcium fraction absorbed = 0.15 * (daily calcium in grams) ^ (-0.44)
15
Where overall daily calcium intake is not known, as in the examination of the effects of individual foods
on calcium balance, the effect on balance will be evaluated for several different ranges of calcium intake.
For example, for an intake range of 500 mg to 1000 mg, the effective absorption can be estimated as 0.15
* (1^0.56 – 0.5^0.56) / 0.5, so 0.096 is the expected net fractional absorption.
The final element for computing the calcium balance is an estimate of calcium losses when all dietary
drivers (calcium, sodium, potassium, protein and bicarbonate) are zero. Trial and error comparison with
known variations in total calcium losses indicates 2.0 mmol (80 mg) per day to be appropriate.
The overall expression for the calcium balance is therefore
Calcium balance (mg) = Ca (mg) * FA – 80 + 40 * (0.005 * K + 0.01 * HCO3 – 0.01 * Na
– 0.1 * (8.3 * cysteine (g) + 6.7 * methionine (g) ) )
16
where FA is the net fractional absorption of dietary calcium and HCO3 is calculated from equation 12.
All quantities are in mmol unless otherwise stated. If data on cysteine or methionine are missing, but
data on protein are available, then sulphur from protein, in mmol, can be estimated, based on a typical
methionine and cysteine content of protein, as 0.275 * protein (g), instead of using equation 3.
Equation 16 can be used in several ways:


The effect of individual foods on calcium balance can be evaluated by assuming an
appropriate net fractional absorption (FA) for the range of calcium intakes being considered
and evaluating the change in calcium balance due to the mineral and amino acid content of the
food.
For a given dietary composition, the predicted overall calcium balance at typical net fractional
absorption (equation 15) can be calculated.



The required calcium intake to give calcium balance at typical calcium absorption can be
calculated, keeping other nutrients constant.
The required fractional absorption (RFA) to achieve calcium balance can be calculated by
finding the fractional absorption which gives a zero calcium balance.
The RFA can be divided by the typical fractional absorption from equation 15 to give a
normalised required fractional absorption (NRFA).
The NRFA provides a direct measure of how well the overall diet supports bone health. The lower the
NRFA, the better the diet. As variations of more than a factor of 2 around the absorption predicted from
equation 14 are unusual (Heaney, 1986; Heaney, 2000), an NRFA below 0.5 can be considered an
excellent assurance of bone health, while an NRFA above 2 indicates a seriously deficient diet.
This approach can be illustrated by examining four example diets: a typical Western omnivore diet, an
estimated palaeolithic diet, a typical Western vegan diet, and the diet recommended in the overview. All
the diets are based on a 70 kg person consuming 2500 kcal per day. Table 3 also shows the net alkali
contribution of the diet as the difference between the estimated intake of bicarbonate (equation 12) and
the intake of acid from protein. 80% protein absorption is assumed, with acid equal to twice the sulphur
content of the absorbed protein.
omnivore
palaeolithic
vegan
recommended
Ca
(mg)
800
1500
600
1000
Na
(mg)
3000
700
3000
1500
Protein
(g)
100
200
50
70
K
(mg)
2500
8000
3500
6000
Cl
(mg)
4800
1400
4900
2600
Mg
(mg)
250
800
350
600
P
(mg)
1500
3000
1500
2000
NRFA Net alkali
(mmol)
1.68
-27
1.28
-12
1.46
-12
0.84
34
Calcium
balance (mg)
-92
-53
-53
+24
Table 3: Diet types, net alkali and calcium balance
The typical omnivore diet has the highest NRFA and the highest calcium loss. The typical vegan diet and
the palaeolithic diet have similar calcium losses, but because of the higher calcium content in the
palaeolithic diet it would be easier to achieve balance by adaptation mechanisms increasing the fractional
absorption. In contrast, the recommended diet can maintain calcium balance with fractional absorption
below average.
This analysis sheds an interesting light on how our palaeolithic ancestors maintained healthy bones while
consuming large quantities of protein. Despite a calcium to protein ratio (mg per g) of just 7.5, they are
closer than either typical modern omnivores or vegans to having an adequate diet to support bone health.
Also, the level of base in their diet adequately counters the acidifying effects of the high protein intake,
so blood and urine pH would not be expected to be low by Western standards. With high levels of
physical activity and sun exposure, it is likely that they had better calcium absorption than is now typical,
further improving bone health. Interestingly, Eaton (1991) shows that almost all of the palaeolithic
calcium intake came from plant sources. Unfortunately, with the exception of green leafy vegetables, the
calcium content of cultivated fruits and vegetables is often much inferior to that of their wild counterparts
(Milton, 1999), so vegans need to take some care in their dietary choices to get sufficient calcium, despite
exclusive use of plant foods.
Assuming calcium absorption follows equation 15, the required calcium intake to bring each diet into
balance is 2000 mg (omnivore), 2300 mg (palaeolithic), 1200 mg (vegan) and 735 mg (recommended).
The corresponding required calcium to protein ratios of the four diets are 20, 11.5, 24 and 10.5. Heaney
(1998) suggests that a calcium to protein ratio of 20 is adequate for bone health. While calcium intake
and protein intake are two of the strongest influences on calcium balance, they should not be considered
in isolation from sodium, potassium and bicarbonate.
Promoting bone health points towards increasing calcium and potassium intakes, moderating protein
intake and substantially decreasing sodium intake, compared with Western standards. This combined
strategy has a much better chance of success than the current (correct but unbalanced) emphasis on
calcium as it is less vulnerable to poor calcium absorption.
Application of the model to specific foods
In calculating calcium balances for the food tables provided in this paper, food composition data
were taken from USDA (1999).
Calcium bioavailability in plants was adjusted where good data were available. The available
calcium in high oxalate plants (spinach, rhubarb, Swiss chard) was reduced by 80% compared
with their nominal content (Weaver, 1997). Kale, broccoli and Chinese cabbage had available
calcium increased by 10% (Weaver, 1997; Benway 1993, Weaver, 1999). Soy products had their
calcium bioavailability reduced by 25%, while other beans had their bioavailability reduced by
50% (Weaver, 1993). The bioavailability of calcium from other foods was not adjusted. The
impact on the calcium balance calculations was substantial for the high oxalate foods.
As the USDA database does not have data on chloride content, a correction was made by
estimating the excess of chloride over sodium based on McCance and Widdowson (1991). This
adjustment was most significant for meat and fish, for which it increased the net alkali by 1.5
mmol per 100 g. For whole grains, particularly brown rice, and for bananas, it decreased the net
alkali significantly. The impact on the calcium balance calculations was negligible.
Validation of the model
The key test of this model is its ability to predict the effects of specific foods.
One of the most thorough studies of the effect of milk supplementation is Recker (1985). This study
examined the effect on calcium balance of adding 24 oz (670g) of milk to the diet of 13 postmenopausal
women. Calcium balance was measured one year after supplementation commenced and compared with
control subjects who did not receive extra milk. The one year interval is vital, as it allows the bone
remodelling transient to decay and the body’s adaptation mechanisms to operate, so the measured balance
should reflect the long term effect (Heaney, 2001). Calcium intake increased from 680 mg per day to
1470 mg per day. The observed effect on calcium balance was an improvement of 45 mg per day. Using
the model in Appendix 1, the predicted effect on calcium balance of an extra 670 g of cow’s milk,
starting from an initial intake of 680 mg per day, is 48 mg per day – a very good match. If the change in
calcium intake had been accomplished using calcium carbonate, the predicted change in balance would
have been 65 mg. The difference reflects the losses associated with the milk and confirms the validity of
the model for predicting the effect of dairy products on calcium balance.
It is also noteworthy that after allowance for calcium losses in sweat (about 50 mg per day), which were
not considered in this study, the extra milk changed the overall calcium balance from a loss of 110 mg
per day to a loss of 65 mg per day. Therefore this study shows that increased calcium consumption from
dairy products up to the highest recommended intake fails to prevent a net loss of calcium in
postmenopausal women. Nonetheless, the 40% reduction in loss observed is a major improvement.
Another key study is Devine (1995). This study used supplementation of either calcium lactate
gluconate or powdered milk to increase calcium intakes by about 1000 mg per day in two thirds
of the study group. The study then examined changes in bone mineral density over two years. It
would have been preferable to start the bone mineral density measurements after one year to
avoid the remodelling transient, as the remodelling transient will increase the apparent effect of
increased calcium intake beyond what would be sustained after the transient has passed. Calcium
intake was estimated from dietary records and sodium intake from urinary sodium excretion.
Models were then developed by statistical regression for the effects of calcium, sodium and
weight on the change in bone mineral density at different parts of the skeleton. At two bone sites
both calcium and sodium were found to have a statistically significant effect on rate of change of
bone mineral density, with the effect of 100 mg of calcium being positive and about two times
larger than the negative effect of 100 mg sodium.
The predicted effect of milk at the median calcium intake of 1500 mg is about 5.5 mg per 100 g
of milk, or 4.6 mg per 100 mg of milk calcium. The expected effect of the calcium supplement is
about 7 mg per 100 mg of calcium. The predicted average effect of calcium intake on calcium
balance is therefore an increase of 5.8 mg per 100 mg. The expected effect of sodium on calcium
balance is a decrease of 1.7 mg per 100 mg. The predicted relative effect of calcium and sodium
is therefore 3.4:1, compared with the observed relative effect of about 2:1. This suggests that the
model is giving a useful prediction of the observed effect but may be underestimating the
adverse effect of sodium relative to the beneficial effect of calcium. If we took the coefficient for
the effect of sodium from Ho (2001), the predicted effect of 100 mg of sodium on calcium
balance would become a decrease of 2.4 mg calcium per 100 mg sodium, making the expected
relative effect 2.4:1.
Overall, the degree of consistency between the model and the observations is very encouraging.
Heaney (1998) argues that increased losses are of limited importance when calcium intakes are
high, as the body will successfully increase calcium absorption from the gut to compensate for
increased losses. There is some truth in this, in that the body can balance increased losses by
absorbing more calcium from the gut or by absorbing more calcium from bone. However, the
success of the model above in predicting the results of Recker (1985), indicates that the ability to
compensate for increased losses by increased absorption of calcium from the gut is limited in
post-menopausal women and that increased losses due to components of milk other than calcium
are still reflected directly in reduced balance after a year of adaptation. As noted in Recker
(1985), “examination of the correlation between protein intake and calcium balance with calcium
intake held constant showed a reasonably strong negative correlation”. Increased protein intake
was also associated with increased bone resorption after adjustment for calcium intake. At least
for postmenopausal women, the degree of adaptation appears to be limited, even at high calcium
intakes, and the model’s predictions of the net effect of foods on calcium balance appear to be
valid.
Appendix 2: The results of long term trials on calcium supplementation
The strongest evidence for the effect of diet on health comes from investigator-controlled intervention
studies of sufficient duration to allow the full effect of the dietary change to be observed. The
fundamental advantage of such studies is that the results are not distorted (confounded) by associations
between individual dietary choices and other characteristics. However, most intervention trials on
calcium supplementation, either with supplements or with dairy products, are of such short duration as to
be virtually meaningless.
When calcium intake increases substantially the level of PTH in the blood drops substantially. This
reduces the rate of creation of new sites for bone remodelling – removal of bone by osteoclasts and its
replacement by osteoblasts. However, existing sites continue to be remodelled. This creates a transient
imbalance between osteoclast activity starting at new sites and osteoblast activity continuing at old sites.
The net result is an increase in bone mass over a period ranging from 6 months in children to 18 months
in elderly adults. If supplementation is stopped, this transient is reversed. If supplementation is continued
beyond the duration of the bone remodelling transient, we see the underlying long term effect of the
supplementation.
Trials of sufficient duration to see the long term effect of supplementation on bone density, particularly if
they also assess impact on fracture incidence, provide the strongest evidence for the effect of calcium on
bone health. The handful of trials satisfying this criterion are reviewed below.
In comparing the effect of supplementation on changes in bone density relative to changes in
unsupplemented (control) subjects, the rate of change in bone mineral density in the supplemented
subjects will be calculated between two years after the start of the trial and the end of the trial. The rate of
change in the control subjects will be calculated over the entire trial duration.
There have been three trials of supplementation of calcium, without vitamin D, lasting for four years and
reporting detailed BMD changes in each year of the study. The rates of change of BMD at various bone
sites are summarised below. For Riggs (1998b) only the rate of change of the supplemented group
relative to the control group can be reported.
Reid (1995)
Supp
Cont
Riggs(1998b) Supp
Cont
Peacock (2000) Supp
Cont
Age Initial
calcium mg
per day
58 760
59 710
66 710
66 720
74 600
73 600
Final
calcium mg
per day
1760
710
2300
717
1350
600
% per
year at
hip
-0.2
-0.7
0
% per
year at
spine
+0.1
-0.4
-1
% per year Fracture
total body incidence
-0.1
-0.5
+0.15
+0.1
-0.2
-0.25
-0.6
-0.9
-0.1
1.5% per year
5% per year
N/A
N/A
18 cases
23 cases
Table 4: Results of long term calcium supplementation trials
The results from Reid (1995) and Peacock (2000) are impressive. Both show a notable reduction in rate
of bone loss. This reduction is consistent with the estimated 40% improvement in calcium balance
observed in Recker (1985) on making a similar shift in calcium intake using milk and the estimated 50%
improvement in calcium balance observed by Recker (1977) using calcium carbonate. Reid shows a
statistically significant reduction in fracture risk. Peacock shows a non-significant reduction in fracture
risk. Recker (1996) also carried out a four year supplementation trial increasing calcium intake from 450
mg per day to 1650 mg per day using calcium carbonate. This trial did not report detailed BMD changes
year by year, but did report a significant reduction in fracture incidence in women with a history of
vertebral fractures (7% per year compared with 13% per year). This adds up to a powerful case for
improved bone health with calcium supplementation.
In contrast, Riggs (1998b) shows no benefit and indeed shows a notable loss of BMD in the spine in the
supplemented group compared with the non-supplemented group over the last two years of the study.
Riggs (1998b) showed gains in BMD of between 1% and 2.5% at the different bone sites over the first
two years of the study. The contrast between the first two years and the second two years show that
eliminating the bone remodelling transient is vital in any analysis of the effect of a treatment on bone
health.
There were differences in the forms of supplements used. Riggs used citrate, Peacock used citrate malate
and Reid and Recker used carbonate. This seems unlikely to account for the differences in results. The
only other obvious difference is that the supplemented calcium intake in Riggs was higher than in any
other study. It is possible that very high calcium intakes have adverse effects. For example, calcium
intakes above 2000 mg per day combined with high phosphate intakes could disrupt magnesium
absorption (Hardwick, 1990). In Riggs (1998b), a third of those receiving supplements exhibited greatly
increased losses of calcium in the urine requiring reduction of the supplement dose, indicating that
calcium intake was being pushed beyond desirable levels. Overall, the lesson from Riggs (1998b) appears
to be that calcium intakes beyond 2000 mg per day should not be encouraged. The observation that many
primates have much higher calcium intakes relative to body size than a human consuming 2000 mg per
day does not provide assurance of safety as these primates consume high levels of calcium in the context
of a diet rich in other minerals, including magnesium and potassium (Milton, 1999).
Fracture rates have also been reduced using combined calcium and vitamin D supplementation (Chapuy,
1992; Chapuy, 1994; Dawson-Hughes, 1997). Chapuy (1992,1994) supplemented 1.2 g of calcium, as
calcium phosphate, and 20 micrograms of vitamin D3 on top of a dietary calcium intake of 500 mg per
day and initial calcidiol levels of about 40 nmol/l. Fracture rate was reduced by 25% over three years.
Dawson-Hughes (1997) supplemented 500 mg of calcium, as calcium citrate malate, and 17.5
micrograms of vitamin D3 on top of a dietary calcium intake of 700 mg per day and initial calcidiol
levels of 75 nmol/l. Non-vertebral fractures were reduced by 60% over three years. The effect on bone
mineral density change from the end of the first year to the end of the third year was a reduction in loss of
about 0.35% per year, similar to the changes observed with calcium only.
In contrast, supplementation with vitamin D alone appears to have no significant effect on fracture risk,
in general populations, despite a modest reduction in bone loss (Lips, 1996; Peacock, 2000). The initial
calcidiol levels in Lips (1996) were 25 nmol/l, so the failure to find a benefit is not explicable by higher
initial levels of calcidiol. This illustrates the importance of tackling fracture risk on a broad front rather
than relying on a single intervention.
Overall, the evidence from intervention trials shows a benefit of increasing calcium intake to between
1000 and 2000 mg per day, with a possible further benefit on fracture rate by simultaneously ensuring
adequate vitamin D intake. Greater increases in calcium intake are not supported by existing studies.
The positive effects of calcium supplementation on bone mass and fracture risk observed in intervention
trials make a conclusive case for a benefit of calcium.
Heaney (2000b) states that “no further distinction need be made between dietary and supplemental
sources of calcium” but this assertion is not well founded. The results of Recker (1985) discussed above
indicate that the effect of milk on calcium balance is about 70% of the effect of its calcium content, as
predicted by the model presented in Appendix 1. The model further predicts that not all dairy products
are alike. At moderate calcium intakes some cheeses make a modest positive contribution to calcium
balance while others make a negative contribution. For individuals with relatively low calcium
absorption, increased consumption of cheese will generally cause a reduction in calcium balance, so
cheese cannot be expected to act as an effective source of calcium. Milk and yoghurt are the only dairy
products that are likely to improve calcium balance on calcium intakes above 500mg per day, though
even they will be less effective than many other sources of calcium.
There is only one long term trial of increasing dairy product consumption. Baran (1990) used unspecified
dairy products to increase calcium consumption from 900 mg per day to 1500 mg per day in
premenopausal women. The study showed a statistically significant difference in vertebral bone density
after 30 months. This was largely due to an apparent 3% drop in BMD in the unsupplemented control
group between 18 months and 30 months. Neither group showed any clear change in BMD during any
other time interval. This pattern does not allow evaluation of the effect of the intervention after the
remodelling transient has ended as it suggests a higher degree of random error in the measurements than
indicated in the paper or some artefact such as one or more women in the control group entering
menopause: there is no reason to expect premenopausal women to lose 3% of bone mineral density in a
year.
There are no experimental data which contradict the expectation, based on the model in Appendix 1, that
increased milk consumption will show less benefit than expected based on its calcium content and that
increased cheese consumption will show negligible benefit and may indeed have a modest adverse effect
on high risk individuals with relatively low calcium absorption. Results from epidemiological
observations are consistent with this view. These results are discussed in more detail in Appendix 3.
Appendix 3: Epidemiological studies on dietary calcium and bone health
There is considerable evidence from studies in Asia, such as Hirota (1992), Hu (1993), Fujiwara (1997)
and Lau (2001), that increasing calcium intake to above 500 mg per day benefits bone health. It would be
astonishing if it did not. In many cases, the additional calcium is provided by milk or other dairy
products. Calcium intakes below 500 mg per day are not consistent with optimal bone health in any
society with an ageing population. Such low calcium intakes will reduce bone growth during childhood
and adolescence, increasing the adverse effect of later losses. Heaney (2000c) provides many other
examples of studies supporting this conclusion.
The strongest evidence short of intervention studies comes from prospective studies. In prospective
studies, the characteristics of healthy individuals are recorded prior to observing their health over a
number of years. This avoids bias due to current diet and recollection of past diet being altered by
existing illness. However, such studies are still subject to confounding by associations between different
characteristics of the same individual.
For example, Cumming (1997) found a 50% increased risk of vertebral or hip fracture in calcium
supplement users. This observation contradicts the results of the intervention trials discussed in Appendix
2. The results were unlikely to be due to chance, so potential explanations need to be considered. The
obvious explanation is that individuals who perceive themselves to be at high risk of fracture are more
likely to take calcium supplements than individuals with robust bone structure and no family history of
osteoporosis. The higher pre-existing risk for such individuals then becomes associated with the use of
calcium supplements. Indeed, the authors found “supplement users were more likely than were nonusers
to have a history of falls, fractures or osteoporosis” and considered this to be the most likely explanation
of the observed association. Cumming (1997) also found a similar, but not statistically significant,
association between both dietary calcium and milk intake and vertebral fracture, which may be subject to
the same explanation.
Holbrook (1988) found an increase of 200 mg of dietary calcium per 1000 kcal to reduce fracture risk by
40%. This result is consistent with the intervention studies discussed above.
Most other prospective studies found no significant effect of dietary calcium. This may, in part, reflect
the difficulty of accurately measuring calcium consumption. It may also reflect the expected difference in
effect between different sources of calcium. There is also likely to be a variable degree of confounding
due to high risk individuals choosing to consume more dietary calcium.
However, Feskanich (1997) found an adverse association between dietary calcium intake and dairy
calcium intake and risk of hip fracture. The highest quartile of either dietary or dairy calcium intake
showed a 100% increase in risk of hip fracture compared with the lowest quartile. That is, those
individuals in the top 25% by calcium consumption had a risk of fracture twice that of those in the bottom
25%. There was also a tendency towards an adverse association between current milk consumption and
hip fracture rate, which was statistically significant for consumption of three or more glasses of milk per
day (increased risk of 75%). Feskanich also found a tendency towards a protective association from
increased childhood milk consumption (decreased risk of 47% for three or more glasses of milk per day)
and no change in risk associated with life-long high milk consumption.
The trend in these results is as expected from the basic mechanics of calcium balance set out in the
present paper. That is, the benefit of a high calcium intake is expected to be greatest in children and
younger adults, who show better absorption of calcium. The balance between increased calcium intake
and increased calcium losses with increased dairy product consumption will thus be more favourable for
them than for older adults. The observation that milk consumption is associated with a less pronounced
adverse effect than overall dietary calcium is also unsurprising. However, the apparent increase in risk of
fracture by a factor of two with high current dietary calcium intake in older adults is not expected from
the predicted effect of dietary calcium sources on calcium balance, which only suggests only a modest
adverse impact of cheese in high risk individuals.
It is possible that the Feskanich study was confounded by high risk individuals choosing to drink milk
and consume more dairy products in an attempt to reduce risk. This is made more probable as the study
was carried out among nurses in the USA who would be well aware of conventional risk factors for
fracture and influenced by strong promotion of dairy products as a protective measure. This effect of high
risk groups adopting behaviours believed to be protective is well established and is the reason why the
analysis in Feskanich (1997) was carried out after eliminating calcium supplement users.
This explanation of the observed results is supported by analysing the results of Feskanich (1998) which
differentiated the same study population based on a genetic risk factor for osteoporosis. Each hip fracture
case was matched with two controls with no fracture, and a genetic test was carried out to unmask the
genetic risk factor. The high risk (BB) genetic subgroup had a twofold increase in hip fracture risk
compared with the other subgroups (Bb and bb). Elevated risk of fracture was observed only in the BB
group with low calcium intake compared to other groups with low calcium intake.
The results presented in the paper were analysed further by reconstructing unpublished data on the
numbers of study members in each genetic group and calcium intake level combination. This
reconstruction is shown in Table 5.
Low calcium cases
Low calcium controls
High calcium cases
High calcium controls
BB
6
6
8
10
Bb
8
22
13
24
bb
6
27
9
11
Table 5: Distribution of cases and controls by genotype and calcium intake
This indicates that 60% of the high genetic risk (BB) group were in the high calcium intake group. The
high risk individuals in the high calcium group show a modest reduction in risk. That is, unmasking the
hidden risk factor indicates the expected modest protective effect of high dietary calcium (-20%) rather
than an apparent adverse effect when the entire high calcium group is compared with the low calcium
group (+50%). This analysis shows that at least some of the apparent adverse effect of dietary calcium is
due to confounding by high risk individuals choosing a behaviour believed to be protective. Indeed, it is
possible that a true protective effect of dietary calcium is being masked by this confounding, though it is
likely that any such effect is modest compared with other risk factors.
It is also possible that some factor in dairy products, other than their mineral and protein content, is
having an adverse effect. Melhus (1998) sheds some light on this possibility. An analysis of fracture data
in a Swedish cohort, adjusting for multiple nutrients, showed an adverse effect of calcium on fracture
risk. However, Melhus noted an association of fracture risk with intake of retinol (pre-formed vitamin A).
Compared with intakes of less than 500 micrograms per day, there was a 30% increase in risk for intakes
between 1000 and 1500 micrograms per day and a 95% increase in risk for intakes above 1500
micrograms per day. Adding retinol to the nutrients being considered eliminated the elevated risk
associated with high calcium intake. This did not, however, eliminate milk consumption as a risk factor
since in Sweden low fat milk contains 450 micrograms of retinol per litre. This study illustrates the
fallacy of regarding milk as equivalent to calcium. Milk contains many substances and cannot be
assumed to act simply as a calcium source
The association of high retinol intakes with osteoporosis was recently confirmed in the USA (Feskanich,
2002). An 89% increase in risk of fracture was observed for total retinol intakes of more than 2000
micrograms per day compared with intakes of less than 500 micrograms. A 69% increase in risk was
found for retinol intakes from food above 1000 micrograms per day compared with less than 400
micrograms. Beta carotene (converted in the body to vitamin A) was not associated with excess risk in
either Melhus (1998) or Feskanich (2002). The consistency of results between Sweden and the USA,
despite many other differences between the two countries, strongly supports a true adverse effect of
retinol and the absence of any adverse effect from plant carotenes.
Retinol may have notably influenced the results in Feskanich (1997, 1998), as US milk which has been
fortified with vitamin A (the most common sort) contains about 600 micrograms of retinol per litre
compared with 450 micrograms per litre in Swedish milk. While the USA does not make extensive use of
cod liver oil, which is a major source of retinol in Scandinavia, there is extensive use of multivitamins
containing retinol. High consumption of milk fortified with vitamin A will make a significant
contribution to total retinol intake and thus to the likelihood of consuming more than 1500 micrograms
per day, the apparent threshold for a notable adverse effect.
Trends in dairy product consumption in the USA (Miller, 2000) may contribute strongly to the
difference between the results of Holbrook (1988) and Feskanich (1997). Between 1970 and 1995,
milk consumption declined from 320 ml per person per day to 240 ml per person per day. Whole milk
consumption declined by over 60%, while low fat milk consumption increased from less than 20% to
more than 60% of total milk consumption. Cheese consumption increased from 13 g per person per
day to 34 g per person per day. Holbrook (1988) was based on a sample from a community in
California, aged 50 to 79 at the start of the study, over the period 1973 to 1987. Feskanich (1997) was
based on US nurses, aged 34 to 59 at the start of the study, over the period 1980 to 1992. Differences
in patterns of consumption of dairy products between the two groups may have been greater than
indicated by national trends, due to differences in age and professional background.
Full fat milk contains only about 200 micrograms of retinol per litre compared with about 600
micrograms per litre in fortified low fat milk. The analysis in the current paper also shows that for
people at high risk of osteoporosis due to relatively low calcium absorption cheese will make calcium
balance worse.
Honkanen (2001) also provides an interesting insight into the complexity of the effect of dietary
calcium. High dietary calcium intake (>900 mg per day) was associated with a modest and nonsignificant increase in bone loss at the spine (-0.48% compared with –0.35%) in postmenopausal
women who did not regularly use hormone replacement therapy (HRT). In contrast, high calcium
intake was associated with reduced bone loss (+0.3% compared with –0.05%) in regular HRT users.
As oestrogen treatment makes calcium metabolism more like that of younger women, this effect is
consistent with the prediction in this paper that the benefit of dairy products for bone health will
diminish or even reverse with age.
Overall, epidemiological studies of dietary calcium are consistent with a protective effect in childhood
and adolescence which declines with age and may be reversed, particularly for cheese, in older adults at
high risk for osteoporosis due to low calcium absorption. For older adults, the addition of retinol to milk
may introduce an increase in risk greater than any benefit from the calcium provided.
Appendix 4: Protein and bone health
Comparisons between countries (Frassetto, 2000) indicate that an increase in the ratio of animal to
vegetable protein is strongly associated with increased age-adjusted hip fracture rates in women over the
age of fifty. In the original 33 countries analysed, 70% of the variation was explained by animal to
vegetable protein ratio, but the observed effect is likely to have been inflated by confounding.
The effect is reduced when comparisons are restricted to 20 predominantly Caucasian countries with
female disability-adjusted life expectancy over 71, but is still statistically significant (p=0.014) and
explains 25% of the variation of hip fracture incidence among these countries. In the 20 country analysis
carried out by Stephen Walsh, there was no effect from total protein intake or disability-adjusted life
expectancy, but both were uniformly high (70 to 110 g protein per person per day and 71 to 77 years life
expectancy). In the Graph 1, age-adjusted hip fracture incidence is plotted against the ratio of animal
protein to vegetable protein (blue diamonds). The purple squares indicate the best straight line fit
obtained by regressing hip fracture incidence against the ratio.
20 country analysis
250
hip fracture incidence
200
150
100
50
0
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Animal protein/ Vegetable protein
Graph 1: Inter-country comparison of hip fracture incidence and ratio of animal to vegetable protein
The observed association remained significant when the cluster of four countries at the top right of the
graph (Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway) was eliminated from the analysis. Such comparisons
between countries are vulnerable to confounding, but the results are consistent with a real benefit from
consuming a higher proportion of protein from vegetable sources while maintaining an adequate protein
intake.
Frassetto (2000) suggests that this association may reflect the effect of animal and vegetable protein
sources on net alkali consumption. This is a possible factor, but many concentrated sources of vegetable
protein, such as soy and beans, have a positive impact on calcium balance while meat, fish and eggs have
a negative effect. Milk also has a positive effect, albeit much less than that of kale and spring greens.
Some cheeses have a modestly positive effect, though the positive effect of cheese disappears at higher
overall calcium intakes. The effect of different protein sources on calcium balance provides a clear and
direct explanation for the observed association, though the balance between protein from milk and protein
from other animal sources would be expected to alter the observed effect of animal protein considerably.
It should be emphasised that inadequate overall protein intakes can be expected to adversely affect bone
health. However, at any given protein intake bone health is expected to be favoured by a high ratio of
vegetable to animal protein. This is exactly what was observed by Sellmeyer (2001). Age-adjusted bone
mineral density was positively associated with the ratio of animal to vegetable protein, but on adjustment
for total protein intake and other factors the apparent relationship was reversed, though this was not
statistically significant. The picture on hip fracture incidence was more straightforward, with the age and
weight adjusted risk of fracture rising with animal protein intake and falling with vegetable protein
intake. Bone loss was observed to increase with increasing ratio of animal to vegetable protein even
before adjustment for total protein.
Feskanich (1996) found a 25% increase in risk of forearm fracture as animal protein intake rose from 50
g per day or less to 80 g per day or more. There was no apparent effect of animal protein on hip fracture
risk. Change in vegetable protein intakes from less than 12 g per day to 20 g per day or more showed no
apparent effect.
However, considering only Sellmeyer (2001) and Feskanich (1996) gives a misleading impression of the
balance of evidence.
Hannan (2000) found reduced bone loss at the hip and spine over four years in individuals in the highest
quartile of animal protein intake, whether measured in grams per day or as a percentage of calories.
Kerstetter (2000) found BMD of the femur to be 3.5% higher in the top quartile of protein intake
compared with the bottom quartile. No distinction was made between animal and vegetable protein.
Munger (1999) found a 70% reduction in hip fracture risk in the highest quartile of animal protein intake
compared with vegetable protein intake.
Heaney (1998) reviews studies on protein intake and bone health up to 1998 noting that 3 showed and
adverse effect, three showed a beneficial effect and two showed no significant effect. Heaney argues that
the effect of protein on bone will be modified substantially by the associated ratio of calcium to protein,
suggesting that there should be no adverse effect of protein on bone if about 20 mg of calcium are
consumed for each gram of protein. That is, the effect of animal protein will depend on the ratio of high
calcium dairy products to other animal protein sources. It is also likely that the effect of protein will be
different as protein intake increases to adequate levels and then moves beyond such levels. There is some
evidence that protein requirements may be higher in older adults than in younger adults (Hannan, 2001).
Heaney (2001b), in an editorial on Sellmeyer (2001), argues that there is no valid scientific reason for
making a distinction between animal and vegetable protein. Heaney notes correctly that grain protein is
higher in sulphur amino acids than many meat proteins. However, the concentrated plant proteins that
would be used to increase protein intake on a vegan diet, such as soy products and beans, are relatively
low in sulphur amino acids. Moreover, other components of plant sources of protein, particularly
potassium and bicarbonate, also exert an influence on calcium balance and, with the exception of grains,
this influence is markedly in favour of vegetable sources of protein.
The evidence on protein strongly supports an overall benefit for bone health of higher protein intakes,
provided a good calcium balance is maintained and the diet is not excessively acidic. The ratio of animal
to vegetable protein does not adequately capture these provisos, so conflicting results are to be expected.
Replacing protein from meat, fish or eggs with protein from milk or yoghurt will improve calcium
balance. Eliminating all animal proteins and living almost exclusively on grains can be expected to be
harmful. Replacing meat, fish or eggs with soy and other legumes will benefit bone health, as will
replacing milk with green leafy vegetables.
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Notes
Stephen Walsh holds the copyright to this paper. It may be reproduced freely but only in full, including
this copyright declaration.
Stephen Walsh may be contacted by email: stephenwalsh@vegans.fsnet.co.uk
The Vegan Society (7 Battle road, St Leonards-on-sea, East Sussex, TN37 7AA) may be contacted by
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Acknowledgements
My thanks to Vanessa Clarke for editing successive drafts of this paper in the interests of clarity.